The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has appointed Sembcorp Industries to build, own and operate 200 megawatt/200 megawatt-hour (MW/MWh) of energy storage systems (ESS) in Jurong Island, the regulator announced on Oct 26.
Following Sembcorp’s appointment in June, the ESS is currently being installed across two sites on Jurong Island and spans two hectares of land. When operational in November, it will be the largest ESS deployment in Southeast Asia, and one of the fastest of its size to be deployed, says EMA.
The ESS function as large-scale batteries to store energy and dispense it at other times when needed. According to EMA, the 200MW/200MWh of ESS could store sufficient energy to power the daily electricity needs of over 16,700 four-room HDB households in a single discharge.
The “fast-response nature” of ESS also allows it to actively manage mismatches in electricity supply and demand and perform regulation services to address second-to-second fluctuations in the power grid, which can mitigate the impact of solar intermittency, says EMA.
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In view of the ongoing volatility in the global energy market, it can be used to store energy to provide reserves to the power grid when needed, freeing up power generation plants to generate more electricity to meet demand.
The ESS will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. According to the EMA, this technology is a proven, safe and high-performing method of renewable energy storage widely used worldwide. “Their fast-response time, high energy density and high round trip efficiency, which measures the amount of energy stored that can be retrieved later, make them suitable for the purpose of maintaining grid stability.”
Regulatory sandbox
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In addition, EMA is inviting commercial and industrial companies to participate in a two-year regulatory sandbox to optimise their energy consumption.
Participating companies will have to manage their electricity demand when activated and receive payments as an incentive for reducing their electrical demand on the national power grid, says EMA, a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Known as Demand Side Management (DSM), this initiative has two programmes, says EMA.
The first programme is known as the Demand Response (DR) Programme, where participating companies are activated to reduce their electricity consumption during periods of high wholesale electricity prices.
Incentive payments are then made to these companies based on the total system savings arising from any reduction in wholesale electricity prices due to their energy demand reduction.
The second programme is known as the Interruptible Load (IL) Programme. Participating companies are paid to be on standby to reduce their committed electrical load when activated during conditions of tight power generation supply.
According to EMA, doing so will help to improve the power system stability by better balancing electricity demand and supply during times of supply disruptions. In return, participating companies receive payments by being on standby to reduce their energy demand even if they are not activated.
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Both programmes are already open and EMA recognises that more can be done to encourage participation. “EMA has taken in feedback from the industry to streamline the programmes to make it easier for potential participants to take part, such as streamlining and reducing penalty thresholds as well as providing more certainty in activation times to participants.”
EMA will continue to monitor the activities in both programmes in the duration of the sandbox.
Photos: Energy Market Authority
